24.10.2015 12:31 h

Hiroshima earn J-League championship spot

Sanfrecce Hiroshima booked their spot in the J-League championship playoffs on Saturday with a 2-0 victory at Ventforet Kofu as Montedio Yamagata dropped out of the top flight.

Brazilian striker Douglas, otherwise known as Dyanfres Douglas Chagas Matos, smashed home the opening for Hiroshima before Kohei Shimizu added a second on the half hour to give the table toppers 34 points from 15 games in the second stage.

The two-time champions lead the overall standings over both stages with 68 points, ahead of first-stage winners Urawa Reds on goal difference. The Reds, Japan's best-supported club, snatched a dramatic 4-3 victory away to FC Tokyo to climb to fourth on 27 points.

Once-mighty Kashima Antlers slipped up in their bid to pip Hiroshima to the second-stage title as they crashed to a 2-1 defeat at mid-table Shonan Bellmare. Antlers, who won the last of their seven J-League championships in 2009, have 31 points.

Yamagata's flirtation with top-flight football lasted less than a season after being promoted via the playoffs after a Kazuma Watanabe hat-trick gave Vissel Kobe a 3-1 home win.

Bottom club Shimizu S-Pulse, who had already been relegated, got that sinking feeling again as they were thrashed 3-0 at home by Kashiwa Reysol.